Chapter 2

|Author Pov

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Emily sat on passenger sit, the air felt heavy with tension, and the stark reality of her surroundings seemed to intensify the turmoil within her. Emily's hands trembled as she clutched a helm of her dress. She just couldn't hold back her tears. Her whole body is shivering due to anxiety. The journey to her home had been a seemingly endless ride.

The quick screech of brakes filled the air, and Emily's heart dropped as the car came to a sudden stop. The darkness outside pressed against the windows, creating a frightening quiet. Panic flooded through her, and her wide eyes were fixed on Stefano, whose face remained stoic in the dim glow of the dashboard lights.

The weight of the silence between them hung in the air. Emily's lips quivered as she struggled to articulate the rising tide of fear and questions flooding her mind. Her eyes strained to pierce the darkness and the deserted road, her heart raced.

The haunting quiet was broken by his rough voice, “Get out of the car.”- Perplexed, she looked at him horrified; her fear got intensified when he saw him taking his seatbelt off. No words coming from her mouth, tears were streaming continuously from her already red eyes.

Emily's breath caught in her throat as Stefano swung open the car door. "Get out of my fucking car now." Stefano's words cut through the tension, leaving a chilling echo in the still night air. Emily felt a surge of panic.

She hesitated for a moment, her eyes meeting Stefano's blazing gaze. The intensity in his eyes sent shivers down her spine, and a knot tightened in her stomach. "I—I'm sorry... It's not what you're..." she began, her words faltering in the face of the sudden hostility.

Before she could finish uttering her apologies or seeking clarification, the forceful pull yanked her out of the car, leaving her stumbling on the uneven road. The door slammed shut behind her with a resounding thud.

Stefano retreated back into his car, leaving Emily alone on the desolate road; her heart seemed to leap into her throat. He sound of the car door closing echoed in the emptiness around her, intensifying the feeling of abandonment. Panic surged within her, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

In a moment of desperation, Emily rushed to the car door, her trembling hands fumbling with the handle but it's locked. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears, drowning out the night's silence. Desperate sobs escaped from her lips as she pounded on the window, "I'm sorry, please don't leave me here. Please..." - tears blurred her vision as she continued to cry. Her cries carrying a mixture of fear, confusion, and heartbreak.

Panic seized Emily as the engine of Stefano's car roared back to life and resonated through the lonely night. She called out to him, her voice pleading, desperate to cut through the growing silence, "Stefano! Please, don't go! I'm sorry! Please, don't leave me here!" Emily's cries were raw with emotion. Her hands beat against the closed window.

A mixture of relief and confusion washed over Emily as she saw Stefano lowering her car's window shield. Her tear-stained eyes locked with his. "I'm giving you..." Stefano glanced at his wristwatch, his tone laced with a calculated indifference, "...15 minutes to reach at my house. Your time starts now." With that, he activated a stopwatch. Without further explanation, he pressed the accelerator, and the car began to move, leaving Emily standing there, alone and bewildered.

Fear gripped her once again as the car pulled away, the engine's growl fading into the distance.  She stared at the deserted road, the seconds ticking away relentlessly. Desperation fueled her movements as she scanned the surroundings, trying to make sense; she continued to tap her feet on road as her eyes fixed at the direction where the car disappeared.

With each passing second, Emily's breathe quickened. She felt the weight of the countdown, unsure of the consequences that awaited her if she failed to meet Stefano's enigmatic deadline.

………………

As Emily's bare feet pounded against the pavement, the ache in her soles intensified with every step. She can’t walk by wearing those high heels. His urgency of reaching his house within the allotted fifteen minutes pushed her to run, her breaths coming in ragged gasps.

Her hair, once carefully styled, now hung in disarray, tousled by the force of her movements. Trails of mascara streaked down her cheeks because of continuous crying that had marred her makeup. Her lips were blood red, having been bitten and chewed in an attempt to stifle her cries.

As Emily reached at the close to gate, her eyes brightened with a mixture of hope and anticipation, a smile graced her lips. a deep sigh of relief escaped from her lips as she finally walked at the door which was already open for her. However, as she stepped further into the house, a palpable shift occurred.

There he was, Mr. Stefano Rossi, the chairman of RossiNexTech Ventures, he was seated on the comfy sofa, hand resting on its arms while his face held a serious expression. His piercing gaze focused squarely on her, dissecting the disheveled state she found herself in.

 In the silence that hung between them, the only audible sound was her labored breathing, each inhale echoing against the backdrop of Stefano Rossi's stern observation.

His eyes looked at the stopwatch as he turned it towards her and showed, “Late, You’re five minutes and 20 seconds late.”- His deep voice resonated through the room, cutting through the silence like a sharp blade. The words hung in the air, her eyes moistened.

He opened the cap of his wine bottle, as the wine cascaded into the glass, his unwavering gaze remained fixed, not once faltering from its target. The intensity of his stare seemed to penetrate the very essence of the room. His aura was so strong and powerful that bring anyone in their knees.

“You know right what punishment I give when you didn’t obey my words.”- He reiterated, the statement more a statement of fact than a question. His eyes, still fixed on her. He waited for her response but “I’m sorry, I-I got lost…”- her voice cracking under the weight of her own emotions. as she tried to take deep breath to calm herself.

Stefano close his eyes in annoyance, it’s really got in his nerves when she said those words again and again, ‘Sorry…’- it just annoy him beyond anything.

His gaze, like a discerning force, roamed over her body that seemed to render her both physically and mentally exposed. The silence hung heavy with anticipation, a pregnant pause before the revelation of his next words. Her body and mind became numb when his next words resonated in room,

‘Strip!”